Data Driven Career Growth?
There is so much data about EVERYTHING now.
We are almost in a Data OVERLOAD situation.
Can data used correctly be incredibly powerful though?
Why?
So all of this is good and well... but you might be saying... Dan... this is a newsletter about growth and learning in the workplace. Get to the point.
Well the interesting phenomenon is...
We have all the data in the world, except for one key area. dare say the MOST important area.
OUR SELF.
In some cases, we humans do track a little bit of our own data. Typically our weight, our income, and maybe a few other basic Metrics.
I will make the case all day long that those are the WRONG metrics to track. Because if they were the right "metrics" to track, we wouldn't have 73.6% of Americans overweight, 37.9 Million Americans in poverty, and an Average American income of $63,795/year.
So where's the breakdown?
We need Big Picture Data/Metrics that ACTUALLY MOTIVATE us to change our behavior.
For example, I recently had some major health challenges. Very quickly, one of My Big Picture Metrics became: I'm 42, I want to enjoy life for at least another 42 years with my family. I want to wake up every day full of energy, vitality, gratitude and love.
This is much more motivating than staring at the weight of my scale.
And I had to take an HONEST assessment of where all my metrics are related to the big Metric.
See, I never REALLY tracked all of this data.... because I was complacent with where I was health wise. I said to myself... I'm Healthy Enough.
Meanwhile at the moment of my heart attack, I was AWFUL in all of these categories. Also about 45lbs overweight.
But I wasn't honest with myself. And I didn't have the right motivation.
NOW I DO.
With a team of highly qualified Cardiologists, Neurologists, Physical Therapists, Nutritionists, and more, I figured out exactly what would be the Highest Impact behavior changes I needed to get the results I desired. I needed a broader perspective in order to remove my own personal biases and perspective.
I then built those behavior changes into my daily routine. AKA... built the RIGHT habits. I didn't want to just do some "one off" actions... I wanted it these changes to be part of my daily operations... aka lifestyle.
As you might have guessed... VERY Quickly, my behavior has changed in all of the above metrics. And I am tracking them every day.
Luckily with technology, almost all of it is done Automatically with iPhone Apps, my Smart Watch, integrations into Apple Health, etc. The best part is I can see trends and get instant feedback too. One day I slipped and Ate an Entire Pizza to myself. The DATA quickly showed me that was not the right choice. Now, I am going to make a Data driven decision next time I want a whole pizza.
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And now 2 months in, MY METRICS have drastically improved in every single category. I am very Fastly approaching my BIG metric of waking up every day full of energy, vitality, gratitude and love. And I'm not in the "Overweight Category" anymore!
you might be saying... BUT DANNNN.... what about the DATA in our Careers?
Happy you asked!
Lets get into today's lesson.
If you LEVERAGE THE RIGHT DATA, you can ACCELERATE RESULTS.
Interestingly enough, the FASST Career Growth Model I've built could apply to Health just as much as ones Career.
AND IT ALL STARTS WITH HAVING THE RIGHT DATA... aka "Metrics".
In all of my research to build this model, I've found that the right metrics can incredibly motivate and SUSTAIN motivation in Career Development.
If you look at the first Element of the FASST Career Growth Model on the left, we absolutely need to Find our Fire first.
With the right Metric, we can be incredibly motivated to Rise to the Top 10% of our field.
Those metrics will Vary for each individual.
I truly believe Compensation is only a good metric if its tied to some other major action that excites you. Like the ability to donate more to charity or build a dream home for your family.
The BIG metric that matters to me most right now Career Wise is inspiring others to grow in their careers. I really want to help accelerate people's success, confidence, and impact.
And if I'm honest with myself, I'm still in the early stages of my potential. I've found some high level people to model and learn from. I'm expanding my perspective and removing my bias. I'm figuring out what I need to learn and what actions I need to take on a daily basis. AKA building habits into my daily operations.
Done right, this isn't really any "EXTRA" work to grow our Careers Faster.
This is just maximizing our time by focusing on the Highest Impact skills and actions in order to Rise to the TOP 10%. And actually bringing us MORE joy, happiness, and self-confidence because we are actually focusing on metrics that matter to us MOST.
Lets jump into action.
ACTION TIME:
As always, I write these articles with incredible gratitude. Thank you for your time today. I promise to continue to provide fresh, actionable content week after week. We as leaders need to inspire growth and learning in the workplace, now more than ever. And maybe it starts with finding our own FIRE and the DATA/METRICS that matter to us! Thank you for subscribing- and I'd love to hear your comments and ideas!
Your Friend,
Dan
Excellent article Dan!